Hong Kong: Asia's low-cost airlines are set for "explosive" growth and are likely to equal the market share of their counterparts in the US and Europe in two decades, according to Airbus.
Low-cost airlines have about 9 per cent of the Asian short-haul passenger traffic, compared with 31 per cent in North America and 26 per cent in Europe.
But Airbus chief commercial officer John Leahy, speaking at the Asian Aerospace show in Hong Kong, said: "The low-cost model is set to explode in terms of growth in Asia.
"I'm sure that all three markets will be at about 40 per cent in 20 years."
Concerning India and China, Peter Negline, Tiger's chief financial officer, said yesterday: "The growth potential there is simply astonishing over the coming two decades and we're looking to participate in that whole-heartedly."
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Photo: Javed Parvesh, Senior Reporter,
Malayala Manorama, Kochi, India
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While Asia will catch up with America and Europe, the "minor twist" is that Asian low-cost airlines will mostly rely on wide-body aircraft rather than the single-aisle type favoured in Europe for shorter distances, according to Mr Leahy.
In spite of plans by Beijing to restrict the launch of new airlines, Mr Leahy said airport infrastructure and other shortages would still force China and India to get more passengers on to fewer flights: "What you're going to see is a push towards larger aircraft in China and India as congestion hits."
05/09/07 Raphael Minder/The Australian, Australia To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
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